Children of Gebelaawi (38 page)

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- Our son 's secret is out.

Shaa.fiy drew back from the window moaning:

- My heart has never lied to me.

He rushed out, not caring about the danger, and his wife

followed close behi nd. He pushed his way through the crowd

calling out loudly:

- Rifaa! Where are you, Rifaa?

He could not see his son in the circle oflamplight and could

not hear his voice, but Hijaazi came up to him and asked him

above the din:

- Has your son got lost again?

Farhaat shouted to him:

- Come and hear what people are saying, and see the latest

game that's bei ng played with the honor of Gebel's people.

Abda shouted wretchedly:

- For God's sake, tolerance is a virtue.

There were angry yells: 'The woman's mad ! ' 'She doesn 't

know what honor is. ' Shaafiy was terrified and implored

Hijaazi to tel l him:

- Where is the boy?

Hijaazi pushed his way to the gate and shouted at the top of

his voice:

- Rifaa! Come here my boy and talk to poor old Shaafiy.

The whole business was beyond Shaafiy. He had thought his

son trapped in a corner of the passage; yet here he was, walking

i nto the circle of lamplight. Shaafiy grabbed him by the arm

and led him to where Abda stood. A moment later B lubber lips

appeared, carrying a lamp, followed by Dungbeetle, who was

scowling furiously. All eyes were fixed on the strongman, and

a hush fell. Dungbeetle growled:

- What's all this?

Several voices answered at once:

-Jasmine has disgraced us!

Dungbeetle said:

- Let the witness speak!

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Rifaa

Zaytoona the carter came forward and stood in front of

Dungbeetle. He said:

-A little while ago I saw her coming out ofBayoomi's back

door. I followed her back here and asked her what she'd been

up to in his house. I could see she was drunk. The stink of wine

from her mouth filled the passage. She got away from me and

locked herself in. Now, ask yourselves, what could a woman

have been doing drunk in a strongman's house?

This relieved Shaafiy and Abda, but it worried Dungbeetle.

He realized that his position as strongman was being severely

tested. If he punished Jasmine lightly he would lose the respect

of Gebel's people, and if he let the angry crowd deal with her,

he would provoke Bayoomi, Strongman of the Alley. What was

to be done? The men of Gebel were pouring out of the

tenement-houses and gathering in the courtyard and in the

road in front of Victory House. Dungbeetle's position was

rapidly worsening. Angry voices clamored:

-Drive her out of Gebel's sector.

-She must be beaten before she's driven out.

-Kill her!

There was a scream from jasmine who was listening in the

dark behind her window. Everyone stared at Dungbeetle.

They heard Rifaa saying to his father:

-Wouldn't it be better, Father, if they turned their anger

on Bayoomi who seduced her?

Many of them were annoyed, including Zaytoona, who

answered him:

-She went to his house of her own accord.

Another man shouted:

-If you've no sense of honor you'd better keep quiet.

Rifaa went on, in spite of a look from his father:

-Bayoomi only did what you do.

Zaytoona screamed:

-She's one of Gebel's people; she's not for other men.

-The boy's stupid; he has no honor.

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Shaafiy kicked him to silence him, while Brahoom shouted:

- Let the chief speak.

Dungbeetle was almost choking with rage. Jasmine cried

out for help. Murderous looks were directed at her window.

Jasmine's cries pierced Rifaa till he could bear it no longer. He

slipped from his father's grasp and pushed his way through to

Jasmine's home shouting:

- Have pity on her weakness and terror!

Zaytoona roared at him:

- You woman !

Shaafiy called him desperately but he took no notice. He

answered Zaytoona:

- God forgive you ! (Then, to the crowd: ) Have mercy on

her ! Do what you like to me! Don't her cries for help move your

hearts?

Zaytoona shouted again:

- Don ' t bother wi th this shame less idiot! (Then to

Dungbeetle: ) It's for you to speak, chief.

Rifaa asked:

- Would it satisfy you if I married her?

There were screams of anger and shouts of derision. Zaytoona

said:

- We're only i nterested in getting her punished.

Rifaa persisted courageously:

- The punishment will be my business.

- Not at all ! It's everybody's business.

Dungbeetle saw i n Rifaa's suggestion an escape from his

dilemma. He was not in his heart satisfied with it, but he had

no better idea. He scowled still more to hide his weakness, and

said:

- The boy has undertaken before us to marry her, let him

have his wish.

Zaytoona was blind with fury. He shouted:

- Honor is lost because of cowardice.

Dungbeetle's fist landed on his nose, and he staggered back

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Rifaa

howling, the blood streaming from his nostrils. They all

understood that Dungbeetle would cover up his weak position

by terrorizing anyone who opposed him. He glared at their

frightened faces in the lamplight and not one of them showed

any sympathy for the bloodied nose. On the contrary Farhaat

reproached Zaytoona: 'The trouble with you is your wagging

tongue.' Brahoom said to Dungbeetle: 'Without you we couldn't

have found a solution.' Hanoora said to him: 'Your anger

shakes the world, chief. '

The crowd drifted away, till in the end there remained only

Dungbeetle, Blubberlips, Shaafiy, Abda and Rifaa. Shaafiy

went up to Du ngbeetle to greet him, and offered him his hand,

but the man flared up and swung his knuckles into Shaafiy's

hand, so that he stepped back with a gasp. His wife and son

hurried to him, while Dungbeetle stormed out of the passage,

cursi ng Gebel's people and everyone else, and even Gebel

himself.

The pain made Shaafiy forget his son's posi tion. He put his

hand in warm water and Abda rubbed it, saying:

- You see how Zakia has stirred up her husband against us?

Shaafiy groaned.

- The coward forgot that it was our stupid son who saved

him from Bayoomi 's cudgel.

5 2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The hopes of Rifaa's parents had rested on him, and how

they were dashed! By marryi ng Jasmine he would become

nothing, and his family was already the subject of gossip even

before the wedding. Abda cried secretly till she was ill, and

Shaafiy looked miserable, but i n front of Rifaa they hid their

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feelings and avoided confrontation. Jasmine may have made

things better by the way she behaved after the scandal; she

hurried over to Shaafiy's home and knelt before him and his

wife, poured out some of the gratitude that filled her heart,

and told them of her regret for the past. It was i mpossible to

back out ofthe marriage after Rifaa had undertaken it publicly

in front of Gebel's people, so Shaafiy and his wife surrendered

to the idea and made up their minds to accept it. They had two

conflicti ng wishes; one was to celebrate the marriage in the

traditional way with a bridegroom's procession, and the other

was to have a quiet little ceremony at home to avoid exposing

it to the mockery ofGebel's people, who continued to criticize

the match wherever they met.

Abda said with feeli ng:

- I've always wanted to see the bridegroom's procession of

Rifaa, my only son, marchi ng rou nd the district.

Shaafiy growled:

- Not one of Gebel's people would want to join in.

Abda frowned.

- It'd be better to go back to Muqattam Bazaar than stay

among people who don 't like us.

Rifaa stretched out his legs under the open window to catch

the su n. He said:

- We shan ' t leave the Alley, Mother.

Shaafiy cried out:

- If only we'd never come back. (Then, to his son:) You

were sad the day we got back, weren't you?

Rifaa smiled.

- Today isn 'tyesterday. lfwe went away, who'd save Gebel's

people from devi ls?

Shaafiy spoke with feeli ng.

- Let devi Is possess them for ever. (Then after a pause: )

Anyway, you can simply bring round .. .

- I shan 't bring her to our place. I ' l l move to hers.

His mother cried out:

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Rifaa

- That's not what your father meant.

- But that's what I mean, Mother. My new home is not far

away; we cou ld shake hands every morning through the window.

Although Shaafiy was unhappy about it, he decided to

celebrate the wedding, though in a very small way. He hung

decorations i n the passage and over their doors, and he hired

a singer and a cook. He invited all their friends and acquaintances, but the only ones to accept werejawaad and Motherat-Heart, Hijaazi and his family, and some poor people who came for the food. Rifaa was the first young man to marry

wi thout a procession. The family crossed the passage to the

bride's home. The musician sang without enthusiasm as the

guests were so few. During the meal,Jawaad praised Rifaa for

his fi ne character, saying he was an intelligent, wise, pureminded young man, but living in an alley that had no use for anything except bullying and cudgels. At that moment they

heard some urchins who had stopped in front of the tenementhouse to chant:

Lousy-faced Rifaa it's only you

Who fi nds such a crazy thing to do!

They fi nished off wi th cheers and shou ts. Rifaa stared at the

ground and Shaaiiy paled. 1-Iijaazi was angry and said:

- Sons of bi tches!

Butjawaad said:

- There's a lot of filth in our Alley, but the good is never

forgotten. How many strongmen have we had? Yet only Ad ham

and Gebel are remembered.

Then he asked the musician to sing so as to drown the noise.

The party dragged on till everyone had drifted away, leaving

Rifaa andjasmine alone in her lodgings. In her bridal dress she

looked a picture of beauty. Beside her sat Rifaa in a fine silk

jellaba, wi th a brocaded turban on his head and bright yellow

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pumps on his feet. They sat on the sofa opposite the bed with

its pink linen. In the mirror on the wardrobe door were

reflected the wash-basin and water jug under the bed. She was

obviously waiting for his initiative, or at least his preparations

for the expected initiative, but he just went on looki ng up at

the ceiling lamp and down at the matting. When the waiting

grew too long she said gently:

- I shall never forget your kindness. I owe you my life.

He looked at her affectionately and said in a tone that

showed he did not want to return to this subject:

- We all owe our lives to other people.

What a good man ! On the night of the scandal he had

refused to let her kiss his hands, and now he did not want to be

reminded of his good deed. His goodness was matched only by

his patience. But what could he be thinking of now? Was he

annoyed that his goodness had forced him i nto marrying a girl

like her?

- I'm not as bad as people thi nk. They loved me and

despised me for the same thing.

He comforted her:

- I know. What a lot of wickedness there is in our Alley!

- They're always boasting about being descended from

Adham, and at the same time they're competi ng to see who

can be worst.

He said confidently:

- As long as it's easy to cast out spirits, we're close to

happi ness.

She did not see what he meant, but suddenly she felt how

ridiculous her position was. She said laughing:

- What a strange conversation for a wedding night!

She tossed her head back proudly and seemed to have